A great link brought to my attention by Brett Grossman about writing numbers in Spanish.

The site is in Spanish, and at first glance may frighten you….keep going it’s quite easy to understand.

The page provides the correct spelling in Spanish and is a must have if you’re going to be working with written numbers, writing checks or just want to improve your knowledge of Spanish.

He says “It is a link that might be helpful for new-to-Mexico business people…the finer points of writing numbers in Spanish…it drove me crazy when I first got to Tampico…I can’t tell you how many checks were rejected because of the smallest error and the cost of a bounced check at Serfin is upwards of $800 pesos + IVA”.

Aaron Burda and I have begun work on a very interesting (and hopefully useful) project. Providing information and online links, in English, for foreign investors and businesses wishing to examine, analyze and evaluate Mexico for business operations.

We are a Creative Commons licensed project (i.e. not for profit) whose mission is to provide the best online resource to foreign businesses looking to invest in Mexico. Currently online is a very rough “mock up” of a website that we are planning to build over the next several months.

If you would like to participate in the project and feel you have some valuable expertise to contribute please apply for a userid.

Project History
The Investment Portal is a combination of two projects. Lee Iwan’s Business South of the Border Blog and Aaron Burda’s UC Davis Graduate School of Management Mexico Research Project. Both Lee and Aaron were convinced that the quality of the information available on the Internet about doing Business in Mexico could be substantially improved.

Project Future
We hope to organize the existing Internet English language resources about doing business in Mexico and add to it through having select volunteers write succinct articles on relevant business topics.

If you are a Banker, Lawyer, Accountant, Environmental Expert, HR Manager, Logistics Manager or other qualified and experienced individual with business expertise about Mexico and would like to provide information, advice, or website links to this project, don’t hesitate to contact us.

From the site: “Welcome to the Intercultural Business Communication tool. This simple online tool offers a great resource for people wanting to get some intercultural business communication tips when working with people from different cultures. All you do is choose your own country and another country and we produce a graph that shows the the major differences between the two cultures. You then get some insightful intercultural business communication tips for working in or with that culture.”Intercultural Business Communication Tool

It provides a comparison between the countries, and then provides tips in order to reduce or manage this cultural gap.

These new airlines are offering international flights and national flights between intermediate cities in Mexico previously only accessible through bus lines or at much higher prices via the full service airlines.

The budget minded vacation or business traveller should check out the schedules and prices of these airlines next time you are travelling in and around Mexico.

A comment from .hj highlighted an important issue when doing business in Mexico. He wrote ” (Mexicans) will try to deliver a message using indirect messages and almost never telling things directly for it is consider unpolite”

Etiquette and formal behaviour is expected in Mexican business negotiations, especially with international clients or suppliers. This will become more relaxed and informal over time, as the trust is reinforced and expectations are met on both sides.

It is all about mutual respect.

The formal rules and behaviours (etiquette) that enhance and create an atmosphere of respect have been broken down or eliminated in the USA, but in Mexico they are critical and very much a part of business dealings.

The Mexican business person does not like to create a confrontation or criticize openly, it is considered rude and ill mannered. One should be very perceptive to what is being said by your Mexican partner, what is being avoided and the implications of each behaviour.

One should avoid open criticism of the Mexican partner. They expect the same formality given to you, it is embarrassing and awkward if one begins to point fingers and rant and rave.

Make comments and observations about areas that need attention, strategies and solutions that must be adapted and challenges that must be met instead of criticism of past performance. Discuss what is working and what isn’t working, but don’t personalize it.

You may not hear direct criticism of an idea or proposal, instead there might be suggestions of alternatives.

Your ideas, proposals and solutions may be greeted by nodding heads and smiling faces, but it may only signify that the audience is listening, and not in complete agreement.

Decision-making on sensitive or unpopular issues may be delayed and not openly debated. Give your Mexican partner time to deal with these issues, and don’t force a decision in public.

If able to plan the meetings in advance, propose an agenda, and include the issues you need to discuss, or that require a decision. Give them time to prepare for the meeting and the decision-making required. Don’t demand a decision in an open meeting.

Lunches and informal settings are where the real business discussions and dialogues will take place, and even then, will be presented may be in a vague and non-confrontational manner. Use these moments to explain and explore the ideas, benefits and alternatives. Listen.

Present yourself and treat your business relationships as a well educated respectful gentleman, not like a threatening conquering warrior barbarian. Participate, listen and react to business situations with poise, calm and politeness.

The month of December is Mexico is filled with Christmas and holiday parties and social events.

The population of Mexico is 95%+ Christian and openly celebrates Christmas in private industry and government displays. Be aware that there are other religious groups in Mexico that do not celebrate Christmas in order to avoid offending suppliers or clients.

These Christmas and holiday reunions are usually mid-day dinners or late suppers. There will be get-togethers for friends, business acquaintances, associations and any committees or other groups that you might belong to.

There is also the company Christmas party.

Failure to attend the holiday events are noticed and considered rude. It’s better to arrive and steal away early than to avoid the reunions all together. Remember Mexico is a very socially oriented culture, failure to attend and participate in the social events will not help you, it might work against you.

Corporate and business gift giving is very important, and in many cases expected at Christmas time. The low end gifts range from the traditional; calendars and pens, agendas, calculators or other promotional type gifts to the higher end: fine liquors (Tequila, Scotch whiskey, Cognac, Red wine), fine food baskets, electronic equipment (Palms, IPods, etc.), gift certificates to restaurants, etc.

Unlike the USA, it is common in Mexico to give holiday gifts to the decision-makers in the purchasing department unless the companies have a policy against it.

Cut flowers or live plants are not considered an appropriate business gift.

Holiday gifts are given to important (and not so important) clients or to key people in the clients organization with whom you have a personal/business relationship (for example the secretary who answers all your calls or the logistics person who solves problems all year long).

Some transnational companies have tried to limit and reduce the amount and quality of business Christmas gifts in the past few years. It is not looked upon kindly by customers who always reflect upon the amount of money they have spent with the supplier, and believe the Christmas gift is a “thank you” and recognition of their support and loyalty throughout the year.

Work begins to slow down in Mexico at the beginning of December, and after December 12 (The Day of Guadalupe) efficiency grinds to a halt. It’s impossible to get major decisions, and many times difficult to locate business owners and managers due to events and social engagements.

Most Mexican businesses (not in tourist areas) are closed during the week between Christmas (Dec. 25) and the New Year (Jan 1). The Mexican government prohibits highway transport of certain goods and tractor trailers during this peak family vacation period.

In order to begin to understand Mexican politics (an impossible task), it’s important to learn some fundamentals of the political system in Mexico.

There is no re-election for political officials for the same post in Mexico. Current office holders can sit-out a term and run again for the same office, or they can run for another political post.

The political parties control the selection of party candidates who run for office, at Federal, State and local levels. Political parties, and their leaders are very important.

In order to be remain in politics one must please both the party and the electorate.

The term for the President of Mexico is for 6 years, with no re-election.

The term for State Governor is 6 years, with no re-election.

The term for Senators is 6 years, with no re-election for a consecutive term.

The term for the Camara de Diputados (similar to the House of Representatives in the US) is 3 years, with no re-election for a consecutive term.

The term for local mayor is 3 years with no re-election for a consecutive term.

The term for State representatives and local elected positions is normally 3 years, with no re-election for a consecutive term.

Changes in the Mayor, Governor or President, cause major reshuffling of bureaucrats and administrative officials. This causes a slowdown or “unofficial” shutdown of some government offices between the election date and the date of the new administration start-up.

The lack of re-election encourages and favors the current politicians and parties in power to seek out projects with short term visible benefits. They are pushed to show successes, infrastructure projects or other tangible benefits during their term of office in order to get promoted and elected to future political posts.

In the Mexican states with stable, well defined political party tendencies and majorities, there is more focus on medium and long term projects and planning as the benefits can be attributed to the party.

If selling a long term project to the government, it should include short term benefits, or tangible results, so that the politicians involved can claim credit.

Never try and initiate the sale or negotiation of a major project to the State government during the last 6 months or year of a Governors term. It will be stalled, and you will have to “resell” it to the new administration.

Get to know as many local and State and Federal political officials as possible, in 3 to 6 years they are all sitting in different positions of power and influence in the government.